Fantastic W&W

     We've just entered a very entertaining month-October. There are many celebrations these days in Moldova.
     My favorite season is Autumn, I love the golden leaves, the dark rainy days, the melancholy of the running wind :)
     I have had a really amazing day, one which characterizes the way I see a perfect day of life. I have worked in the morning (and I am really pleased with the results), I have had a fantastic lunch and then I went for a walk, visiting on my way the "Tulburel Festival". This Festival is a part of the National Wine Day, which is very popular in Moldova.
     Many people who are asked about Moldova say "Yeah, fantastic wines and women!" ( there are a lot who think it's in Africa as well :)))) I can't agree more with the first part of this saying (as about about the 2nd one- it's not me to judge :P ). Moldavian wines are really great and if you think about an interesting way to spend your weekend, you could try to visit Chisinau during this Festival! Read more about it here: http://wineday.wineofmoldova.com/en/
     There have been some really nice days and it feels really good to work and then to spend quality time with my family!

 

    

     Wish you all a nice weekend!


xoxo from Chisinau ;)

Game Over

     I am home!!!
     Yes, after a long, long period of playing and traveling, I have finally got to a place where I can have a rest and I can think what is there to do next.
      With the University starting next week and some other projects I am onto I hope to keep myself busy. It is really strange to get used to the calm "day by day-no game" life after 3 months where my main thought was "what should I play tomorrow?" or what to choose between a 10 hours bus ride and some 14 hours by train.

      My next tournament will be not sooner than the end of October, so until then- more posts on my blog and less stuff to worry about :)







xoxo from Iasi ;)

Caruana Adjustment

     I think that each of us admired the great performance of Fabiano Caruana during the recent "Sinquefield Cup". We can guess, was that divine inspiration or just the result of a great amount of work (I think it was both of them)... Anyways, it has certainly inspired me!
     The "Maria Albulet Memorial" has ended today, with me scoring 8p/9 and taking clear first place with a 2561 Performance and +17 Elo points!

Rk.	SNo			Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.
1	3		IM	Bulmaga Irina	ROU	2365	8.0
2	6		WGM	Sandu Mihaela	ROU	2259	5.5
3	1		WIM	Olsarova Tereza	CZE	2296	5.5
4	8		WGM	Cosma Elena-Luminita	ROU	2333	5.0
5	2		WFM	Imnadze Nato	GEO	2082	5.0
6	10		WIM	Olsarova Karolina	CZE	2224	4.5
7	4			Gelip Ioana	ROU	2102	3.5
8	5		WIM	Ciobanu Camelia-Adriana	ROU	2153	3.5
9	7		WGM	Ionescu Irina	ROU	2227	2.5
10	9		WGM	Makropoulou Marina	GRE	2211	2.0

     Here you can find the detailed information about the tournament: http://chess-results.com/tnr143698.aspx?lan=1&art=1&turdet=YES&flag=30&wi=984
  
      It's been a fantastic tournament for me, one in which I am not ashamed to show any game! I am very thankful to those who have advised me to play here and to those who made this nice event possible!
     Here's a photo report:

WNM Gelip Ioana

WGM Ionescu Irina

WGM Cosma Luminita

Imnadze Nato

WIM Olsarova Karolina

WGM Sandu Mihaela

WIM Olsarova Tereza

WGM Makropoulou Marina

WIM Ciobanu Camelia

 

 

Happy Irina :)

 xoxo from Braila! :)
    

1 Square Meter

     Summer ended quite a few days ago, but it feels that it still hasn't left.
     What has changed in these 9 days? Hit-nay, no tournaments-nay, late morning coffee- check, game after game-check, white clothes-check, late summer evenings-check :))) So, it is still summer!
     Well, on a more serious basis- I am actually playing another tournament, this time- a round-robin in Romania, Braila- "Maria Albulet Memorial". You can check it here- http://chess-results.com/tnr143698.aspx?lan=27&art=2&turdet=YES&flag=30&wi=984
      It is a nice feeling- playing each game (especially after the Turkish League, where I played only 6 games out of 13).

     A big break will follow after this tournament, with no games to play until the end of October. I will finally have some time to process what has happened in the last 75 crazy days :)))
     One would say that it's not normal to play so much in a row and I totally agree, but what to do- have to earn for those square meters- 1sq meter at a tournament, another one at the next 2 ones and maybe they will add up in some 20 years :))))
     All in all, I greet each of you from my still ongoing summer and wish you all a nice week!


P.S. Happy Birthday to my dear mom!


xoxo from Braila :)

High Voltage

     The days pass quickly and 4 rounds are already behind. I played three games so far and if not the game I lost unbelievably stupid in the 2nd round, everything would have been fine.
     It was a very important match for us yesterday, one that  can be easily described by the words "Missed Opportunities". Our positions looked very promising at some point, but "Caissa" had another plans and  we even lost the match with a minimum 4,5-5,5 score at the end.
     My game was a very interesting and tense one, as I played against the very young and talented girl from Kazakhstan- Abdumalik Zhansaya. She is already a WGM (at the age of only 14 yo) and has some important achievements behind her. You can check the game here,by clicking "view pgn": http://superlig2014.tsf.org.tr/tr/component/turnuva/?task=fileview&kid=346



 

 

     We have a double round today, but I am to rest in the morning.
     I enjoy being here, as every year I play in the Turkish League and I hope that our team will show a good result :)


Wish you all a nice weekend!

xoxo from Kocaeli :)

The other Side of a Medal

     The last time I wrote was just before the beginning of the Olympiad and since then a lot of things have happened.
     Our team was very unlucky in some crucial matches and unfortunately we weren't able to repeat our success from 2012, when we took the 5th place. We finished 11th this year.
     Despite our not fantastic play, I had a rather good tournament, winning the bronze medal on the 4th board with the score of 8p/10.

     Someone knowing me a bit would know how much I wanted to add to my collection a worthy medal and how hard I've tried during the last years in order to get it. Though it came as a big surprise to me ( I didn't expect to get it after I lost one game) I can't say that I was not happy about it. After all, show me a sportsman who would win an Olympic medal and won't be happy (maybe only Plushenko with silver)...
     So what is the point of writing all of this? Well, I will tell- some important to me people were telling me during the last half year: " You don't have any worthy results", "you play rather bad", well, now- here it is- a result ( Olympic must be worthy, right?)- and no one seems to care or to notice.
     What can I say?




 The more years pass, the more I get disappointed in people.

P.S. I am at the Turkish League now, where I hope to play well, but not for anyone else, just for myself, because it seems that's how it works- one should be only for himself.


xoxo from Turkey :)

The northest North

     Here it is- the northest North- Tromsø.
     Once I got out of the airport the unusual air just hit me, I have never thought that I could actually  feel such a difference in matter of breathing. How to explain... Breathing is not a necessity, it is a great pleasure here. I feel that right now- my lungs are absolutely in love with Tromsø :)))
     We arrived yesterday, in the evening, if to admit that "evenings" exist here too... The arctic nights in summer- you know what it means? It means 21 hours of daylight per day :)) Quite cool, huh?! Though one might find it difficult to sleep in such conditions- I slept like a baby- my best sleep since like... ever :)

    I am very happy to be here and as everyone else in Tromsø, can't wait for the Olympiad to start!    Our women's team is the 6th in the starting ranking list: 

Team-Starting rank

No.		Team	Team	RtgAvg
1		CHN	China	2549
2		RUS	Russia	2520
3		UKR	Ukraine	2510
4		GEO	Georgia	2499
5		IND	India	2421
6		ROU	Romania	2407
7		USA	United States of America	2405
8		POL	Poland	2402
9		FRA	France	2390
10		ARM	Armenia	2383

and we have a very nice team:

Bo.		Name	Rtg
1	IM	PEPTAN Corina-Isabela	2422
2	WGM	L'AMI Alina	2446
3	IM	FOISOR Cristina-Adela	2404
4	IM	BULMAGA Irina	2354
5	WGM	COSMA Elena-Luminita	2327

     The men's team is the 32 nd in the starting ranking list, but one must not fool himself- they were 8th at the last Olympiad :)

Bo.		Name	Rtg
1	GM	LUPULESCU Constantin	2625
2	GM	VAJDA Levente	2561
3	GM	JIANU Vlad-Cristian	2579
4	GM	PARLIGRAS Mircea-Emilian	2574
5	GM	NEVEDNICHY Vladislav	2554

			Follow our results on : http://chess-results.com/tnr140381.aspx?lan=1&art=0&flag=30&wi=821 and keep updated with the latest news from the Olympiad on the official site of the event: https://chess24.com/en/olympiad2014
xoxo from Tromso ;)